Potato Gnocchi with Pastrami Ragu
Ingredients
- Rock salt, for baking
- Two 12-ounce Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, minced,
- 1 celery rib, minced,
- 6 ounces pastrami, sliced, finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup chives, sliced

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a small baking pan with rock salt.Pierce the potatoes with a fork and place on the salt.
Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until tender.
As soon as the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them and pass them through a ricer into a bowl.
Let the potatoes cool.
Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour.
Stir the eggs, the 1 cup of flour and the kosher salt into the riced potatoes.
Gently knead a few times to form a dough that just holds together.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 piece of the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rope.
Cut the rope into 1/2-inch pieces and transfer the gnocchi to the baking sheet.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
Refrigerate the gnocchi for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Fill a large bowl with ice water.
Boil the gnocchi just until they rise to the surface of the water, about 1 minute.
With a slotted spoon, transfer to the ice water to chill, then drain on paper towels and pat dry.
Transfer the gnocchi to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.
In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the 1 tablespoon of oil.
Add the onion, cover and cook over moderate heat until translucent, 4 minutes.
Add the celery, cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until richly browned, 15 minutes.
In a food processor, mince the pastrami.
Add the pastrami to the skillet along with the water and chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Simmer over low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 1 hour.
In a nonstick skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter.
When the foam subsides, add half of the gnocchi and cook over moderate heat, turning, until browned all over, 5 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and gnocchi.
Spoon the sour cream onto 4 plates and top with the gnocchi and pastrami ragu.
Garnish with the chives and serve.
